These beautiful hand colored copperplate engravings have been selected from a work entitled "Historia Naturalis ", published in Amsterdam in 1657 under the supervision of John Jonston. The complete six volumes include the following parts: Historiae naturalis de quadrupedibus et avibus, Historiae naturalis de insectis , de serpentibus et draconibus , Historiae naturalis de exanguibus aquaticis, Historiae naturalis de piscibus et cetis.

John Jonston (or Johnstone), a descendant of a Scottish family, was born in Sambter, Poland. He was interested in both medicine and natural sciences, and studied at St. Andrews, Cambridge, and Leiden. He published major natural history studies, including Thaumatographia Naturalis (Amsterdam 1632), a compendium of contemporary knowledge of natural science including astronomy, paleontology, plants, animals and man. This was followed by Theatrum Universale Omnium Animalium (Frankfurt, 1650), with plates after his drawings engraved by Mattias Merian depicting the entire range of animal species. After having spent most of his life travelling through all parts of Europe, he settled in Silesia.